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Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office starts at $72,800 a year — about $35.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,410 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,426 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Billings, MT run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $77,839 would somewhere at average prices — $5,039 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on price levels for this metropolitan area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isYellowstone County Sheriff's Office reported 65 sworn officers and 122 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Yellowstone County says about itself
The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office remains committed to ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of all residents. We are dedicated to upholding the law with integrity, transparency, and respect for the community we serve.
What Yellowstone County does
Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, detention, civil, court-security, search-and-rescue and other public-safety services. Official County materials emphasize professional law enforcement, service and protection of the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Yellowstone County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Opening 1 July 2026; closed 15 July 2026; $35.00/hour
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Yellowstone County sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Yellowstone County starts at $72,800, so $7,426 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $72,800 a year, about $35.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Yellowstone County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #8 of 23 agencies we have verified in Montana — 15 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #637 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,410 above, and against other county agencies $7,426 above.
Compare with another department
Put Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Yellowstone | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$22,526 | #142 |
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | +$6,781 | #416 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | +$6,656 | #421 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | +$6,534 | #424 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | +$4,763 | #468 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | +$3,453 | #504 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | +$978 | #603 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | −$1,039 | #682 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | −$1,560 | #712 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | −$3,515 | #799 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | −$3,744 | #812 |
| 13 | Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department | Municipal | — | $67,648 | −$5,152 | #882 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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